


Since Always Til Forever

by chronologicalimplosion



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blow Jobs, Canon-Typical Teasing, David Rose Complaining But Ultimately Being A Good Sport, Fluff, Hiking, Internalized Homophobia, It's pretty much just shameless flirty fluff, M/M, POV Patrick Brewer, Public Blow Jobs, Queer Themes, Semi-Public Sex, This is neither as angsty nor as smutty as the tags make it sound, With a hint of spice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29125371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronologicalimplosion/pseuds/chronologicalimplosion
Summary: Patrick was being immature. He could acknowledge that. He was aware, as he drove his boyfriend out to the start of the trail, that what he had planned sounded desperately insecure, smacking of the same ridiculous illogic as the time David had gotten so in his head about a magazine quiz that he'd taken an Alexis invite to a double date at a high ropes course.But there was a difference, he told himself. He wasn't insecure--he wasconfident.ORPatrick, who grew up in Schitt's Creek, convinces David to come along on a hike with him, not for the sake of a proposal, but because of a childhood superstition about the bench at the top of the trail.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 8
Kudos: 95





	Since Always Til Forever

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in an AU where Patrick and Rachel grew up in Schitt's Creek, and both still live there, but a lot of other things are more or less the same as in canon with some wibbly-wobbly timeline differences. I may write more oneshots in this AU eventually, but I make no promises.
> 
> Inspired by a local legend about an actual hill and bench that one of my friends grew up near (it was much more attainable than a three-mile hike, though). Schitt's Creek fic has gotten me to start listening to Mariah Carey to pick out appropriate songs and now Spotify is convinced that I love Mariah Carey. Send help.
> 
> Not actually very smutty, just like two paragraphs at the end, but it's also maybe the smuttiest thing I've ever written.

Patrick was being immature. He could acknowledge that. He was aware, as he drove his boyfriend out to the start of the trail, that what he had planned sounded desperately insecure, smacking of the same ridiculous illogic as the time David had gotten so in his head about a magazine quiz that he'd taken an Alexis invite to a double date at a high ropes course.

But there was a difference, he told himself. He wasn't insecure--he was _confident_. They had been dating for 8 months, long enough that Patrick was considering dropping the monthly presents (although the list of reasons to keep giving them hadn't gotten any shorter), long enough that Patrick had started price-checking engagement rings in incognito browser tabs. He was so happy; he had every faith that they were going to make it all the way and he'd spend the rest of his life with the ridiculous man in the passenger seat. But before he put a line item in his budget for a set of gold bands... well, he had something to prove to an even-smaller and even more petulant version of Stevie.

It's not like he was _superstitious_ , after all. He'd managed to drag David out on one hike before and this one was set to be even shorter.

* * *

For most of the drive, David and Patrick didn't say much. They'd popped a Mariah Carey CD-- _Rainbow_ \--into the player to keep them company on the hour-and-change drive, and David spent most of the drive dancing with his shoulders and mouthing along, occasionally punctuating particularly emotional lines with his hands. Patrick wore an easy smile the whole time, sneaking as many sidelong glances at David as he could. The lip-syncing wasn't nearly as exaggerated and dramatic as the time David had performed Tina Turner for him in the store, but it wasn't lost on Patrick that this _wasn't_ a performance. David was just letting him in on the potentially-embarrassing moments, and he thought he could easily subsist on that knowledge and David's simple, unguarded joy forever.

Well, until _Thank God I Found You_ came on. Then Patrick was turning the music down just enough that he could sing clearly over it. He could sense David's stilling and managed to catch a brief glimpse of his blush, self-consciously twisting his rings. It was a damn shame the road was so demanding of Patrick's attention, he thought, and almost contemplated pulling over. Instead, he reached over to grab his boyfriend's hand from where it was twisting his rings, singing about how he would give David anything, and looking straight ahead at the rolling country road.

By the time it was over, leaving both of them bathed in real silence, another stolen glance at David informed Patrick that he'd missed the patented David Rose face journey to get over his instinctual embarrassment. Instead, David was just looking at him with a sort of fond awe. David brought Patrick's hand up to his mouth to press a kiss to his knuckles.

"So how many Mariah Carey Songs do I have to-"

"I love you, David cut in before Patrick even finished his jab. Patrick felt it against his knuckles as much as he heard it, and that was almost enough to make him feel bad about his silly, childish plan. _Almost._

Instead, he managed--barely--to wrangle his idiotic grin into something more slanted. "Didn't realize my Mariah impression was that convincing. Maybe I should quit the shop and get into the impersonator business."

"Honey, not even your amazing calves could summon enough of a drag scene in Schitt's Creek to quit your day job," David parried back flatly, still against Patrick's knuckles. At this point, Patrick's whole bare forearm was pressed between David's sweater-covered arm and chest, held there with a gentle pressure that belied just how tenderly he was still feeling.

"What about in Elmdale?"

"Doubtful!"

"Doesn't have to be at drag nights, though. I'll do birthday parties like an Elvis impersonator."

David hummed thoughtfully, drawing it out, surely knowing Patrick was hyper-aware of the gentle vibration and pinched half-smile against his skin. "How's your Carrie?" he eventually asked, and they both laughed.

"I love you too," Patrick eventually said into the silent car, and he felt David start to smile even wider before dropping his hand in favor of gesticulating.

"Okay, that's quite enough of that. _Please_ tell me you keep more than one CD in here."

* * *

They were about 100 feet up the hiking trail before David made his fist complaint, about the humidity making his hair stick to his forehead and the not-so-occasional rocks jutting up out of the trail and into the soles of his shoes. He punctuated his argument with an openly-disgusted "Who does this for _fun?_ "

This was an identical start to the previous hike. Totally expected, but with his ulterior motive in mind, Patrick found that this time it was already grating on his nerves.

That didn't bode well.

He took a deep breath through clenched teeth, looking straight ahead as he waited for David to catch up. "I don't knows, I guess people who want hot drag queen calves."

"Drag queens don't _hike_. Except that very flannel-loving queen in Vegas I dated for like two weeks before she 'found herself'." David caught back up to Patrick and they walked side-by-side for a second as David shook his head out, trying to catch his train of thought too. "No, the reason people go hiking for fun is that they're _crazy_."

Patrick raised one eyebrow at David, who was already lagging again. It had been no more than 400 feet. "Guess you're dating a crazy person, then."

"Golly, I sure hope he doesn't murder me in the woods!"

"David, this is a public trail!"

Already breathing heavier than usual, David shot Patrick a coy smile with absolutely _ravenous_ eyes. "Shame," he said, and in spite of the fact that he was stopped, Patrick felt himself breathing a bit heavier, too.

* * *

Apparently entirely on accident, David managed to switch from whining over to sincerity-tinged quips at just the right moments to stop Patrick from snapping. David didn't know that today was any different from any other time Patrick had roped him into physical exertion, and yet he was still managing to placate Patrick, subtly unlike some of the similar situations at the start of their relationship.

The knowledge of the subtle ways David had changed his habits for their relationship lifted Patrick's spirits a little in itself, making the whole idea seem a little better. The unsubtle feels he snuck of David's ass when he helped his overdressed boyfriend over bits of rocky terrain didn't hurt, either.

* * *

It was about an hour and a half in, almost exactly two-thirds of the way up the trail, when Patrick lost his grip on the self-awareness that had been keeping him together.

David asked for the third time whether the food would be sufficiently chilled by the time they made it to the top of "this mountain" in an unfocused and slightly breathless run-on sentence that eventually segued into a complaint about how _he_ wasn't sufficiently chilled.

"I asked you in the car if you were sure you wanted to wear that sweater!" Patrick cut David off, hearing even as he said it the complete lack of their usual good humor.

"Well maybe you should've asked me if I actually wanted to go on a _five mile hike!_ " David quipped back, gesturing to the nearest tree as if offended by that one in particular.

"The trail is three miles, David! My fifth grade class used to hike farther on field trips!" Patrick's stomach sank at the admission, cheeks burning, although as far ahead of David as he was, it was likely he hadn't noticed yet. One more battle that was solely taking place in Patrick's head.

"I'm sorry I don't have the boundless energy of a bunch of sugared-up rural youths! We've just invented better pastimes."

Patrick stopped walking, clenching and unclenching his fists a few times for good measure "You know what, you're right. This is stupid. We should just go home to all of our modern conveniences!" He started to turn around just as David caught up to him, a many-ringed hand stopping his shoulder and giving it a little squeeze.

"Mmm, no. I don't think so. I've been promised lunch, and I _remember_ how far back you said we were halfway." To Patrick's utter shock, David overtook him and threw back over his shoulder, "You had better hurry your cute little butt up before I eat _you_. I'm starving!"

* * *

"Augh!" Patrick shouted, doubling over, distantly pretty sure some birds went flying off nearby trees at his outburst.

David simultaneously turned to look back at Patrick and hopped a foot further away, pulling his fists skittishly up towards his shoulder. "Oh my god I knew there'd be bears!"

"It's not a bear, David," Patrick replied through gritted teeth. They were both balanced on one leg, he noticed, as he turned back to his boyfriend. Just for different reasons.

He gestured down to the barbed branch attached to the bottom of his sole.

"Oh my _god_ , what is _that?_ "

Patrick glared up at David as he awkwardly hopped the rest of the way around. "I stepped on a branch, David, and it's stuck in my foot."

"I can _see_ that!"

"Then why did you _ask?_ "

David just shook his head for a minute before adding "Are you sure it's stuck _in_ your foot?" with an insincere hopeful lilt.

"Yeah, David, I'm pretty sure."

"Okay, well... sit down somewhere, jeez, there's a rock over here..." David led Patrick over across the trail with a father-light touch on his back and Patrick found himself even more frustrated by the largely unhelpful doting.

He sat down, though, enjoying the feeling of balance for a moment as he sucked in a sharp breath. "You're gonna have to pull it out, David."

It took a bit of cajoling, with Patrick not in quite a good enough mood to weather David's small but growing panic. But, eventually, David pulled the thorny stick out almost too- delicately, pinkies outstretched, and set it down off the path. He rolled Patrick's sock down to look at the damage and managed to mostly contain the grimace, although his eyebrows were still nearly in his hairline.

And then David looked up at him and asked where the first aid kit was, so sure it would be tucked away in one of their backpacks. Patrick's stomach dropped at having to answer that, at having to acknowledge how much he'd abandoned his role as the stable, sensible one in the relationship in order to do... whatever it is he was doing, which he wouldn't even admit to.

He admitted that he didn't pack the first aid kit, though, because when he'd packed the cheese and berries and wine and ice packs there just wasn't enough room left. And then David smiled so softly up at him and dug out a vial of hand sanitizer that he proceeded to put on his bare, sweaty, bloody feet. It warmed his heart. It only made him feel sillier, being out-prepared by David Rose, but made him all the more determined to make it to the top.

They made it about 100 more feet up the trail, David nearly walking into Patrick's back several times because he didn't know the trail (and probably shouldn't be setting the pace with his long, uninjured legs). The fourth time David almost ran into him while he was looking down to pick over tree roots, Patrick heard him make a frustrated huff, followed by a series of shuffling noises.

Patrick, stepping carefully and attempting to disguise his slight limp, didn't look back straight away. He figured he'd hear David's footsteps again in a minute, once he'd put a little more butter distance between them, and his theory seemed to be confirmed when the ground started crunching rhythmically behind him again. So he was a little startled when David's hand clapped on his shoulder. One eyebrow was raised in question when he turned to face David's strangely stony resolve, lips pressed tightly to one side. He had slung his pack around to the front of him and gestured "come here" with his hands, earning an even more quizzical head tilt from Patrick.

David finally broke the silence with "It's cruel and unusual to make me watch you limp along the path like that, so you've left me no choice but to carry you," apparently having found the concept too complex to convey with gestures.

Patrick's eyes went a little wider and he felt himself blush. He'd thought he was doing okay at hiding it. "Uh, David, you really don't have to-"

"Cruel and unusual, Patrick." David's voice was firm, barely even kidding. He turned around to expose his sweater-clad back and add, "Come on now, get up so we can go" over his shoulder.

Patrick wanted to protest, but he could feel his foot throbbing. With a sigh, he acquiesced, sliding his arms around David's neck and then doing the awkward one-footed hop necessary to get his pelvis up above David's. David brought his arms down, giving Patrick's thighs a reassuring squeeze before hoisting him up a bit higher on his back, a bit more stable. Patrick let himself lean in, wrapped his arms across David's shoulders, and even indulged himself with a soft kiss to David's temple.

"Thank you," Patrick whispered into his hair. David hummed. "I'm a very generous person," he teased, running his fingers back and forth along the exposed bit of thigh where Patrick's shorts had ridden up, as if that were enough to motivate him, entirely selfishly, to carry both of them and both packs up the last half-mile of trail. Patrick stopped himself from just running his teeth along the shell of David's easily-accessible ear in retaliation, but it was a close thing.

* * *

When they finally got to the top and Patrick could see the bench, he pressed his lips tightly together and could feel his grip around David tighten involuntarily. He was surprised by the force of his emotion--it felt like a lot for someone who wasn't superstitious. But, well, David, his wonderful, generous _David_ , literally carried him to the top of High Knob, without even knowing why that was a big deal. Hypothetically. To the superstitious.

David sat Patrick down on the bench first, gently and deliberately, and Patrick loosened his grip but didn't take his hands off David as he turned and leaned in for a kiss. Patrick curled the fingers of one hand into David's hair, keeping him close so he could keep kissing him. He sucked David's lower lip in for a nibble and thrilled at the sound of David humming, the pain in his foot momentarily forgotten.

When David finally pulled away, his eyes were sparkling, and he pulled his reddened lip between his own teeth to temper a smile. Patrick was pretty sure he was looking at his boyfriend like he'd hung the moon, and in return, David couldn't bite down hard enough to stop the corners of his lips from spreading up into an unsubtle smile.

Looking smug and in love, David slid his pack off and got one hand under the strap of Patrick's, signaling to his addled brain that he should do the same. David sat, quietly retrieving cheese and crackers and a small tupperware of pre-sliced meats from the packs and spreading them out across the pair's laps, not content to allow space between them on the bench even if it would've been the more stable surface for setting down containers.

They sat side-by-side, assembling and eating bites of meat, cheese, and cracker while they drank in the surprisingly impressive view of the greater Elm Valley, green and vaguely dotted with tiny houses. After a few minutes of munching punctuated with hums of pleasure from David, David casually asked "So not that this isn't, like, a _gorgeous_ and _breathtaking_ view and all that, but are you planning on telling me what's so special about this stupid bench?"

David was only barely looking at him, facing straight forward with his one visible iris at the very corner of his eye, tracking Patrick through his gorgeously dark eyelashes. Nonetheless, Patrick felt exposed, like David could see his thoughts at a glance, or read them through the touch of their bare knees.

"I, uh... what do you mean?"

David popped another prosciutto-laden cracker into his mouth, pressing his lips tightly together as he chewed, before he turned back to Patrick. "Oh, I don't know, it's just so rare to see _baseball game_ Patrick out when it's just the two of us. And I didn't particularly get the impression you were trying to out-hike _me_."

Patrick felt himself turn red, trying and failing to avoid David's gaze. Sighing, he tapped David's knee with his own and tried to figure out where to even start. "I, uh. I've been out here before, a long time ago. We used to have occasional class trips out to the Elm Valley campgrounds that we passed at the trail head." He laughed through the grimace plastered to his face. "Used to be that either Bob or Roland would drive us all out here, actually, in a decommissioned Elmdale school bus that Bob had fixed up. It was a piece of shit."

He finally looked up at David, eyes asking _can you believe it_ as if it wasn't a totally mundane recollection. He was met with a carefully schooled mask of polite interest on David's face, eyebrows quirked, waiting for Patrick to get to the point.

Patrick let out a deep breath and glanced around the top of the hill, a birds-eye view of their life spread before them. "There was this... story. I don't know where it came from; I think one of Rachel's friends had heard it from one of her older sisters, that sort of thing. They said that-"" Patrick found his voice catching, and he had to stop again for a moment to collect his thoughts. David grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, drawing Patrick's attention back to his face.

"They said that if you kissed someone on this bench, at the top of this hill, that you'd be together forever," he finally admitted, looking at David as he said it. To his surprise, David didn't look disappointed in him. It was the same look he gave Patrick when he admitted there was no first aid kit. Like he was charmed when Patrick did something dumb, as long as it was for him.

"So this bench is, what, a way to trap the cold-footed with grade school magic? Do you think I'm leaving you to run the store on my own, Patrick?" David teased, still looking sort of... smug? Any objection that might be suggested by his words was belied by the way he leaned in closer.

"No," Patrick corrected, shaking his head with a wince. Now that he had started talking, it was important for him to get it all out. "The, uh. _Superstition_ was that if you weren't meant to be, then you just wouldn't make it to the top. There would be, uh... an injury, or a fight, or-"

"Oh, Patrick," David interrupted, punctuating it with a kiss. He tucked a hand along the side of Patrick's neck, leaning their heads together. After a long moment of looking into Patrick's eyes, he let one corner of his mouth tilt upwards and added, "We're lucky that I really love cheese, hmm, or else we might not have made it this far."

Patrick laughed, and kissed David again, and then he fed him a cracker with brie and a blueberry on top. The joy at being fed was contagious, and Patrick pressed their lips together again, wanting to _feel_ David's smile.

They alternated eating and kissing and looking at at the view and looking at each other for a while, and eventually Patrick reached into the red pack to pull out a bottle of red wine and the plastic wine glasses. When Patrick set the wine bottle down in the dirt and handed David his glass, he found David's eyes dancing with a question. Patrick raised both of his eyebrows.

"Did you ever try this hike with Rachel?" David asked breezily, like he was sure he'd figured out the significance of this relic from Patrick's past. He was close, Patrick will give him that. But he still shook his head.

"Nah, Rachel thought it was a dumb superstition. I did, too, but... I don't know if that would've stopped me from doing it on its own. Maybe I was looking for an excuse to make one of the brick-ups stick. Maybe she was afraid to know the answer." Patrick laughed once, not really finding any humor in it. "But, I... I'd never heard of any queer couples doing this. I didn't even know that was an _option_ when I was a kid camping here." He gestured sadly back down the trail, only taking his eyes off David for a second. David's eyes didn't follow his motion, boring intently into Patrick instead.

"I don't know, I guess the question has stayed, since I never did it with Rachel. Like I maybe could have saved us both the heart break if I'd had a good reason to break up with her back then. And maybe I... wanted to feel like I was destined for this all along."

"Do... do you believe in that? Destiny?" David was doing a particularly bad job of looking uninvested in the answer, and Patrick glanced away, finding it easier to admit the rest of the truth to his shoes.

"Not destiny so much, no. It was never... the superstition. Not a specific person. But there is still a reason Rachel and I were never going to work out. This big thing that I don't have any control over, that was a mystery to me for so long. And I don't... I don't know how to make everybody believe me, and it's still hard to _tell people_ , and I know a lot of Rachel's family still doesn't really get it. But this hill is supposed to tell you who you're supposed to be with, and I knew-" Patrick's breath caught and he looked up at David again to finish, "I knew I could hike three miles and kiss you on a bench."

"Who are you trying to prove it to?"

There was a long silence, the two men staring at each other, wine and cheese (nearly) forgotten. "Myself," Patrick admitted, wincing at how pathetic it sounded out loud, but David just nodded like it was an acceptable answer and bent down to grab a fresh sleeve of crackers from the packs on the ground.

David slid a hand up to Patrick's shoulder, squeezing lightly and smiling at Patrick from the other side of a freshly-arranged cheddar cracker. "For the record, I don't think that recreational outdoor exertion is generally a good way to convince people you're gay. Although the kissing your boyfriend part might help, but we could've done that in the streets of Elmdale or something."

Patrick smiled incredulously at David, unable to stop himself from leaning in to kiss him yet again, tasting the salty-sour tang of cheese left on David's lips.

David wrapped his arms around Patrick's neck, kissing back earnestly even as Patrick could feel his lips trying to curl up into a smile he was fighting against. David pulled back with a hum, the smile threatening to escape its pitiful restraints. "Okay, so like. I know you said this trail was public, but... _how public_ , exactly? And do we get bonus prizes for doing more than kissing on the bench, or were you all too young to know about fun yet?"

"What, is forever not long enough for you?" Patrick shot back, his voice teasing but his face in a soft upside-down grin.

David slid his hands back down to Patrick's biceps, poking them to punctuate his point. "Mmmkay, nobody asked for _this_. I'll have you know that I have entirely present-tense reasons for wanting to suck your dick on this bench."

"I don't know why I even give you the chance to be sweet. It's always about the sex," Patrick parried back sarcastically, shaking his head a little with his softest, fondest smile. He glanced at the ground and toyed with David's rings for a minute. "I guess it's not so much that I want to prove I'm _gay_ in and of itself. I want to prove that I'm gay and still Patrick, still the same kid from Schitt's Creek who heard the same dumb stories as everybody else. And that... that I always have been all of those things. That maybe it doesn't have to make me so different from everybody else, or cut me off from the same kind of happy ending."

When Patrick looked up at David through his eyelashes, the other man was nodding up and down with the smallest motions of his head, face turned towards the heavens, almost more of a tic than a nod. "I want that for you."

"You are my happy ending," Patrick concluded with a tight voice. Patrick smiled up at David, and he could see David's own rogue smile curling his cheeks up even as he bit it down and rolled his eyes dramatically. David's eyes were nearly closed, and Patrick thought they may be shimmering just a little.

Patrick knew David wasn't yet ready to return those kinds of proclamations about their future, that loving Patrick and wanting good things for him wasn't necessarily the same as being ready to say _yes, this is it, I trust you, let's do this forever_. So, teasing aside, he appreciated that David let him say those things to him, and looked like he was trying to will himself into believing them. He also appreciated the kiss that David gave him in return, determined and sure with his big, strong hands roaming from Patrick's shoulders down his chest as David swung his leg around to straddle him.

And he really, _really_ wasn't complaining when David slid off the bench into the dirt, risking the contact of his bare knees with the ground, and, when asked what he was doing, smartly replied that he was just delivering on the requested _happy ending_. Patrick came with a shout, hands buried in David's hair, looking out over the gorgeous view of the Elm Valley, where David had redirected his gaze with a firm hand on Patrick's chin as his tongue worked him over, where they had built their lives together.

As his body stopped shuddering and he ran a thumb tenderly over David's cheek, Patrick's brain started working to figure out what exactly David's proposed "bonus points" had bought them, if they already had forever in the bag. He pulled David up for another kiss and put his hands over the bulge in David's crotch, ready to reciprocate--for good measure--while he tried to puzzle out an answer that was suitable to tease David about.


End file.
